Luggage case lock housing



June 6, 1967 J. SLAN LUGGAGE CASE LOCK nousme 3 heets-Sheet 1 Filed June 17, 1965 INVENTOR. JACK SLAN Attorney June 6, 1967 J. SLAN LUGGAGE CASE LOCK HOUSING 3 Sheets-Sheet, 2

Filed June 17, 1965 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. JACK SLAN BY X g g A ttorn e y June 6, 1967 J. SLAN LUGGAGE CASE LOCK HOUSING 3 heets-Sheet 5 Filed June 17, 1965 w J ll FIG. 4

INVENTOR. JACK SLAN Attorney United States Patent 3,323,823 LUGGAGE CASE LOCK HOUSING Jack Slain, 65 Densley Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada Filed June 17, 1965, Ser. No. 464,687 Claims. (Cl. 292337) This invention relates to luggage and more particularly to a method and means for mounting locks therefor.

It has been well recognized that it is desirable to provide protection for locks on luggage. This has been commonly achieved by providing added strength to these structures but with little success. Costs have been prohibitive and the construction clumsy. Another method has been to employ a recessed land around the periphery of the case but this has not always proved satisfactory because damage to the land has prevented effective engagement of the locks. Alternatively, a recess has been provided in the case shell within which a single cast housing including the lock and handle assemblies has been mounted. This latter construction is believed to be expensive in construction and awkward to produce.

It is accordingly the main object of this present in vention to provide an improved method of constructing luggage and an improved lock mounting structure therefor.

It is another object of the present invention to .provide an improved case structure which is economical to pro duce and which is pleasant in appearance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved lock housing for lock structures which is economical to produce and may be installed to accommodate right or left hand locks without modification.

To accomplish these and various other objects and advantages of the present invention, there is provided a lock housing which is simple to produce and which may be mounted with facility. In accordance with the present invention, the lock housing provided comprises a channel-shaped member which is dimensioned to receive a lock assembly. The channel member itself is provided with bottom and side walls. The side walls extend upwardly and are bent outwardly adjacent their upper edges to provide lateral flanges. At one end of the housing an end wall is provided and this end wall extends up for a predetermined distance. At the remote end of the channel member from the aforementioned end wall a tongue extends in such a manner that a lock housing can be inserted in a hole provided in the case and then bent up to secure engagement between the lock housing and the case.

With respect to the method of mounting, the prin' cipal advantage is the facility of securement. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention the lock housing is secured by insertion of the previously mentioned end wall under an adjacent edge of the luggage casing. The remote end of the housing is then depressed down into the hole provided so that the outwardly extending flanges on the side walls sit upon the exterior of the case. The tongue of the remote end of the housing from the end wall is then bent up to engage with or abut against an adjacent inside surface of the case wall to effect secure engagement between the housing and the case.

These and other advantages will be more apparent from the following description and drawings in which a preferred embodiment is illustrated by way of example only, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a three-quarter perspective view of a case manufactured in accordance with the present invention and serves to illustrate the relationship of an improved lcck housing with a case in accordance with the present invention;

3,323,823 Patented June 6, 1967 FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a lock housing and lock assembly in accordance with the present invention and serves to illustrate the relationship between these several components;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 44 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is illustrated a general perspective view of a case which has been manufactured in accordance with a preferred method of the invention and which employs a lock housing in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.

As illustrated, the case may be constructed in any suitable manner with cooperating half-shells 11 and 12 of the structure illustrated in my copending application, Ser. No. 437,343, now Patent-3,286,800. However, in this embodiment half-shell 11 includes a frame 13 around the edge of which confronting with half-shell 12 a channel member 14 is mounted. Any suitable means may be employed for securing the channel member.

As shown in FIG. 4 channel member 14 comprises a flange 15 which extends outwardly away from the confronting edge of frame 13. This flange is covered by a vinyl sheet or any equivalent material 16. Channel member 14 itself includes inward of flange 15, an upwardly extending head portion 17. Immediately below head 17 an arm 18 extends down and outwardly to embrace the confronting edge 19 of frame 13. From adjacent the junction of bead 17 and arm 18 a substantially planar portion 20 extends. This planar portion 20 is terminated along its inner periphery by .an upstanding head 21 and 2. depending L-shaped portion 22. The underside of bead 21 and the adjacent surface of L-shaped portion 22 cooperates to define a channel 23.

Half-shell 12 is constructed in a similar fashion to half-shell 13 but along the confronting edge of frame 25 thereof a second channel member 26 is mounted. Channel member 26 comprises an outwardly extending flange 27 with an upwardly extending head 28 thereon adjacent the inner edge. At 29 and 30 member 26 is turned to embrace the confronting edge of frame 25 and provide a structure which cooperates to effect secure engagement with channel 23 of channel member 14.

Immediately below flange 27 at spaced intervals in cooperate alignment with their corresponding lock assemblies such as 30 and 31, latching tongues are mounted. In FIG. 4 one such tongue is illustrated in dotted outline at 32 and openings such as 33 are provided in the cooperating face of channel member 26 to permit the tongues to project therethrough.

The lock assemblies which it is proposed to employ in conjunction with the present invention constitutes the subject matter of my US. Patent 3,169,788, issued Feb. 16, 1965, and have been previously indicated by the members 30 and 31. FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the relationship between the lock assembly, a housing in accordance with the invention and the case itself.

A housing in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 2. As shown, it comprises a bottom wall 41 from which two side walls 42 and 43 extend upwardly. The bottom wall 41 is stepped as at 44 to provide a finger access and the side walls are bent outward as at 45 and 46 to provide flanges 47 and 48. It is to be noted that in this embodiment, the side walls do not extend the entire length of the bottom wall 41. Adjacent one end the side walls are curved downwardly and in conjunction with bottom wall 41 flare outwards slightly as at mouth 48, where an abutment 59 is provided. At the opposite end bottom wall 41 has a reduced Width as at 49 flanked by two upwardly extending wall portions 50 and 51.

At this same end an end wall 52 is provided and at the remote end therefrom, adjacent mouth 48, there is a downwardly depending flange 53.

In side walls 42 and 43 openings 54 and 55 respectively are provided. These will be aligned with each other and with the cooperating latch tongues and lock openings such as 56.

The lock assembly 30 is secured to the bottom wall 41 by means of rivets such as 57 and 58. Rivet 58 also secures a cover piece 60 which comprises a base plate 62 from which a wall 61 extends upwardly. Wall 61 is bent at 63 to provide a ledge '64 so that when secured to housing 30 cover piece 60 serves among other functions, to close the exposed end of lock assembly 30 while permitting the lock to be opened, as shown in dotted outline in FIG. 3.

When the lock assembly 30, the housing 40 and the cover piece 60 are secured together, this unit is mounted in openings such as 70 provided in the planar portion 20 of channel member 14.

Initially end wall 52 is inserted through opening 70 by inclining the entire unit and pushing until vertical wall 61 of cover piece 60 abuts an adjacent edge 71 of opening 70. The free end of the unit, that is, mouth 48 is then depressed so that flange 53 passes through opening 70 and abutment 59 engages an adjacent edge 80 of opening 70. Flanges 45 and 46 will then rest upon beads 21 and 17. The depending flange 53 is then bent up from the position shown in dotted outline in FIG. 3 into pressureable abutment with an adjacent .part of under surface of case wall. This action in turn urges the end wall 52 into a pressureable abutting engagement with an adjacent surface 73 and flanges 45 and 46 tend to bear down upon their adjacent beads 21 and 17.

It will be observed from the drawings that end wall 52 is of such a height that when flanges 45 and 46 engage beads 21 and 17, it will engage the undersurface 73. It will also be noted that the reduced height of walls 50 and 51 permit the entire unit to be inserted without awkwardness.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the structure described is easy to assemble and provides luggage locks with a maximum of protection at a minimal cost, without any additional securing elements.

It will also be apparent that while the invention has been described with specific reference to a particular embodiment, other embodiments and adaptations may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A luggage case lock housing for mounting in an opening in a case wall adapted to receive a lock assembly which comprises; a channel member including a bottom wall having a first end and a second end, a pair of upwardly extending side walls having upper edges, an end wall extending upwardly adjacent said first end and a downwardly depending flange adjacent said second end, said side walls extending at least part way along said bottom wall and being bent adjacent their respective upper edges to provide outwardly extending flanges, at least one of said side walls being adapted to permit passage of an engaging tongue latch therethrough and engageable with an outer surface of said case wall, said end wall being engageable with an adjacent part of an inner surface of said case wall, a cover plate secured, together with said lock assembly, to the bottom wall of said channel member adjacent said first end and adapted to abut the first end of said opening, and said depending flange being bendable into engagement with an adjacent part of the inner surface of said case wall at the second end of said opening opposite said first end.

2. A luggage case lock housing as claimed in claim 1 wherein said side walls are each adapted to permit pas sage of an engaging tongue latch therethrough.

3. A luggage case lock housing as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bottom wall is stepped adjacent said second end to provide a finger access.

4. A luggage case lock housing as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing includes means on said channel member to engage at least one edge of said opening in said case and limit movement 'of saidhousing relative to said opening.

5. A luggage case lock housing as claimed in claim 1 wherein said side walls each have an aligned opening to permit passage of an engaging tongue latch member therethrough.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Atkinson 7'0--70 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner. R. E. *MOORE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A LUAGGAGE CASE LOCK HOUSING FOR MOUNTING IN AN OPENING IN A CASE WALL ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A LOCK ASSEMBLY WHICH COMPRISES; A CHANNEL MEMBER INCLUDING A BOTTOM WALL HAVING A FIRST END AND A SECOND END, A PAIR OF UPWARDLY EXTENDING SIDE WALLS HAVING UPPER EDGES, AN END WALL EXTENDING UPWARDLY ADJACENT SAID FIRST END AND A DOWNWARDLY DEPENDING FLANGE ADJACENT SAID SECOND END, SAID SIDE WALLS EXTENDING AT LEAST PART WAY ALONG SAID BOTTOM WALL AND BEING BENT ADJACENT THEIR RESPECTIVE UPPER EDGES TO PROVIDE OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGES, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SIDE WALLS BEING ADAPTED TO PERMIT PASSAGE OF AN ENGAGING TONGUE LATCH THERETHROUGH AND ENGAGEABLE WITH AN OUTER SURFACE OF SAID CASE WALL, SAID END WALL BEING ENGAGEABLE WITH AN ADJACENT PART OF AN INNER SURFACE OF SAID CASE WALL, A COVER PLATE SECURED, TOGETHER WITH SAID LOCK ASSEMBLY, TO THE BOTTOM WALL OF SAID CHANNEEL MEMBER ADJACENT SAID FIRST END AND ADAPTED TO ABUT THE FIRST 